Jozy Altidore's scoring spree continues and he may be in his best form ever

Jozy Altidore’s scoring spree continues and there aren’t any signs of it slowing down.

On Saturday night, he nabbed a goal and an assist against the Chicago Fire, giving him six goals and two assists in eight games for Toronto FC since coming back from a hamstring injury. That’s on top of three goals in two games for the U.S. national team in this month.

His latest goal on Saturday wasn’t anything spectacular and the Chicago Fire aren’t a very good team, but it’s indicative of at least part of why Altidore is in such great form. He knows how to find pockets of space and finish his chances -- if strikers can do the simple things like that well, they can be dangerous.

But there’s the real possibility that Altidore is in the best form of his career, and it’s because Altidore has grown into a well-rounded striker who is dangerous in all facets of his game. His hold-up play has been one of the strongest pieces in his repertoire, but he has added much more active off-the-ball movement and a strong defensive work rate, shedding some of the passiveness that he has often been criticized for.

Altidore’s passing also has seemingly turned into a strength lately -- the ability to find the right passes quickly in a way that shows his awareness of what’s going on around him. It became all the more apparent without Clint Dempsey on the field for the USMNT last week -- a striker who excels at linking up with everyone around him. Altidore was instead paired with Bobby Wood, who is similar to Altidore in many ways, but can’t find the right passing option with the ease that Dempsey or lately Altidore can.

Altidore’s assist on Saturday may be more of a lesson in how not to distribute the ball as a goalkeeper, but hey, awareness:

It’s good news for the USMNT that Altidore is in such excellent form because only a couple months ago, there was plenty of reason to worry about his future. Altidore had been sidelined with a hamstring injury yet again, forcing him out of the Copa America this summer, the fourth major tournament he has missed due to hamstring injuries. He insisted afterward that a specialist identified the problem, but his frequent absences when the USMNT needed him most raised concerns about whether coach Jurgen Klinsmann should rely on the 26-year-old.

But with the form he is in now -- the form that saw him take over as the USMNT’s all-time top scorer in World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday -- he has made the risk worth it. Coming out on the other side of another injury, Altidore has shown that he has progressed and matured into a well-rounded striker, even despite his setbacks. As long as the strikers in line behind him like Jordan Morris and Gyasi Zardes have weaknesses in their games that Altidore doesn’t have, it’s hard to worry about his hamstring issues and not just enjoy the form he is in.

Toronto FC certainly aren’t going to worry about what-ifs. With Altidore leading the charge, after Saturday’s win, they now sit alone atop the Eastern Conference standings in MLS and have earned their third-straight road win for the first time in franchise history.

"Jozy does a lot for us on the field on both sides of the ball, attacking and defending, and obviously he’s a guy that can hold up the ball, he’s strong," TFC coach Greg Vanney said on Saturday. "He brings so much to our group from his personality to what he does on the field for us on both sides of the ball and it’s great to have him scoring goals. I know he feels great, he’s in a good place and it’s up to us to just keep working with him to make sure that he stays there. I think we’ve got the right answers for that now."

Sebastian Giovinco has been Toronto’s man, scoring a team-leading 16 goals this year -- good for third place on the MLS goal-scoring leaderboard. But for the first time this season, producing in front of goal has been more of a shared endeavor, giving both players more space to work with and making the Toronto attack that much more dangerous. It’s not as if Altidore hasn’t been helping Giovinco this season -- he has held the ball up to relieve pressure and used his passing ability to create chances for Giovinco, but a striker like Altidore needs to score goals to build momentum, and now he is doing just that.

Given Altidore’s past, adding some caution to the optimism about the striker’s form may be warranted, but the risk of injury doesn’t change the current situation: Altidore is in excellent form, maybe the best of his career, and it’s fun to watch. Fans of the USMNT and Toronto FC can hope he will keep up this form when his teams need him the most -- or they can just enjoy it now for what it is.

MORE FROM FOX SOCCER: